BOSTON – His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios visited the National Braille Press on September 14, 2017. During the visit he received the first copies of Speaking to God, My Orthodox Prayerbook, and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom printed in Braille by the National Braille Press for the Department of Religious Education of the Archdiocese of America. It is believed that these are the first books ever published in Braille for Orthodox Christians.

​At the National Braille Press, the Archbishop was greeted by Nicholas Racheotes, the Chairman of the Press’ Board of Trustees, Brian MacDonald, President, Nicole Noble, Director of Sales, and Whitney Mooney, Sales Associate and Social Media Creative. Mr. Racheotes is an active member of the Taxiarchae Church of Watertown, Mass. He explained about the Braille alphabet to the Archbishop, showing him samples of various publications that the Press creates. The Archbishop toured the facilities and saw how books in Braille are created. He saw the first copies of the three books in Braille. Since the Archbishop is the author of Speaking to God, he autographed copies for Mr. Racheotes and the Braille Press.

Rev. Dr. Anton Vrame, Director of the Department of Religious Education, which worked with the Braille Press to create the three books, noted that these three books were selected because they could assist the blind Orthodox Christian in his or her personal interior spiritual and devotional life.